Chapter 11

"Who are you?" Dumbledore asked warily.

The cloak figure tilted their head, "Tell me, Albus Dumbledore... would you like to be proven right?"

"Who are you?" Albus repeated.

"Who I am is not important. You believed Harry Potter was meant to bear the prophecy," the figure stated. "You were right. In nearly every reality, in nearly every strand of fate, he is the boy-who-lived."

"Multiple realities? Do you expect me to believe such madness?" Albus's eyes narrowed. "I will have to ask you to leave now."

"This reality has run askew," The figure stated calmly. "Harry Potter was never meant to rule."

"I think you should leave now."

"I will, but I will leave you with this thought, oh former Headmaster." The mysterious man said. "Can you really live without being proven right? Potter dismissed you from your position, your own brother won't talk to you, and at least half the Wizengamot thinks you are a doddering old fool now, lost in delusions. What do you think the other realities looked like where Harry Potter was just your pawn?"

Albus opened his mouth to retort, but the words died in his throat as the figure vanished into a swirl of shadows, leaving behind only the scent of soot. He stood frozen in the doorway with his hand still gripping his wand. A cold, dangerous spark of curiosity flickered in his chest; the idea that his "delusions" were actually universal truths was a sedative his wounded ego couldn't help but crave. If Harry Potter was truly a pawn in every other world, then Albus wasn't a failure. No, he was simply a master whose board had been unfairly overturned.

In the Upper Realm, Vita drifted into the garden maze only to find her brother intently leaning over one of the viewing pools. When Mortem noticed his twin, his expression was as guilty as a child caught with his hand in the sweets jar.

"You know Fate is going to keelhaul you if she finds you watching," Vita said dryly while folding her arms.

Mortem looked sheepish, "Look, this time it wasn't only about smut," he uttered.

Vita arched a brow. The skepticism was written clearly across her face. "That would be a first," she retorted.

Mortem sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I felt kind of bad about the whole explosion thing. So I was... checking up on Oberon. You know, it was my fault that the monitoring charm got erased."

At the mention of the name, Vita's expression sharpened. "Did you find anything?"

"No, nothing. He's hard to pin down and doesn't give off the same signature as other faes."

"Also, you missed some interesting shower smut," Vita commented offhandedly.

"SIS!!!"

Meanwhile, in another part of the mortal reality, in the Slytherin Castle inner courtyard, Severus walked slowly along the stone path. The cool morning air did little to soothe his worry about how Harry was taking last night's confession. The sound of water trickling from the decorative pond offered a measure of calm, though.

Arches and lush greenery, a rare pocket of peace within the fortress, framed the courtyard. He paused at the edge of the decorative pool or pond, as some might want to call it, and just gazed at the rippling surface and Koi fish.

Then the water stirred.

A cascade of bubbles rose, and suddenly, a red‑haired woman burst forth from the pond. She grinned broadly at the Potion master while water dripped from her shoulders.

"Well, hiya!" she chirped, brightly. "Are you Harry's man?"

Severus stiffened, and his hand instinctively twitched toward his wand. "Excuse me?" he asked icily.

The woman laughed, utterly unfazed. "Don't look so startled. I'm Nimue. A Naiad. And before you ask, yes, I am THAT Nimue. Some call me a myth. Depends on who's telling the story.

"But you, oh, you're the dour one the Alseids had been gushing about for years, aren't you?" Nimue leaned into Severus's personal space when she said this. "Now I can finally put a face to the description."

"What in Merlin's underpants are you going on about?!" Severus was now slightly freaked out by this crazy woman, and it took a lot to freak the Potion master out.

"The Alseids, you know, the nymphs of the glens and groves. According to them, you go Potion collecting a lot in the forests." Nimue stated. "They've taken quite a liking to you because you respect nature. Also, they are responsible for that billowy effect of your cloak, you know," she added. "It started as a prank, you know how fae are, but then they just went with it."

"You're a fae..."

"Yes, I did say that."

"And you live in the pond?"

"Well, no, I just came to visit Harry and congratulate you both on your nuptials," Nimue stated. "Water flows where it pleases. And I please to flow here." She twirled a strand of her dripping red hair around her finger.

"Of course, Harry knows a fae." Severus sighed. "I honestly shouldn't be surprised.

"So..."

"So?" Severus raised a brow.

"You know where Harry is?" She asked. "I don't quite know the layout of this castle. The last time I saw Harry, we were knee deep in a swamp."

"I am debating with myself if I want to know the swamp story," Severus stated, though he indicated for Nimue to follow him. "One part of me is saying no, no, no... while the other part of me is curious what hairbrained plan Potter cooked up to land in a swamp."

"Oh, he was dealing with... IT," Nimue commented. "I just lent him one of my stabby pointy things."

"I already regret asking." He mumbled. The walk to Harry's office was silent after that.

Severus was about to knock, but Nimue simply pushed the door open, while announcing brightly: "Harry darling! Guess who has come for a visit!"

Harry, who was seated at his desk with Hermione across from him, looked up in surprise. His eyes flicked from Severus to the dripping redhead standing in his office.

Nimue's grin widened as her gaze landed on Hermione. The fae's eyes lit up with sudden fascination. "Oh wow, you're sparky," she commented, looking Hermione up and down as though she were inspecting a jewel.

"Excuse me?" Hermione bristled.

"Nimue, please don't harass my friends." Harry sighed.

"Harass?" Nimue gasped theatrically. She even pressed a hand to her chest. "I'm complimenting her! Sparky ones are rare. If you told me you had an Elementalist in your midst, I would have brought something special!"

Hermione exchanged a bewildered look with Harry, "Harry... who is this woman?"

"Hermione, meet Nimue. She's... a fae. A Naiad, to be precise."

Hermione's eyes widened. "Nimue? As in... King Arthur... That Nimue?"

Nimue beamed, "Finally, someone who appreciates the legend! Though I must say, the stories are all terribly exaggerated. I never enchanted Merlin. Well... not in the way they wrote it down."

"And what, pray tell, is an Elementalist supposed to be?" Severus asked while Hermione's jaw dropped.